You all can keep bringing up Bouye and Brandon Brooks and Rick Smith will keep bringing up JJ Watt, Hopkins, Clowney, Mercilus, Foster, Bouye (again), Brooks (again), Joseph (the good years), Deshaun, etc.
Watt and Mercy were definitely Wades picks in my eyes. Those are null. Its not hard to pick the overall top consensus in Clowney. Not in the least. Foster was more Kubes. He came from the Shanahan offensive sets where it was plug and play at RB, he just happened to find a GREAT one in Arian. Ill give him Brooks. Barely. That was still a lot of input from Kubes for athletic guards for all the misdirection boots. Joseph and and Bouye, Ill def give him credit for. And what did he let happen to Brooks and Bouye?
How are you so sure that Watt and Mercilus were not Rick Smith decisions and then think Bouye was. Very conceivable that the coaches believed they could do without Bouye. Vrabel could have said "let AJ walk. We got KJ and JJo" And people forget that Kevin Johnson was outplaying Bouye (according to PFF) last year before he got injured. Let's just give him credit and blame for all personnel moves or no credit at all. Its his responsibility and his call. Rick Smith is definitely responsible for UDFAs. He found the Arian Foster and AJ Bouyes in the first place.
RS is responsible for all aquisition/letting go of personnel. The teams personnel is going to lead to a 4-12 season due to lack of depth. Both RS and O'brien should be let go and get a true personnel guy in here to lead the franchise. My 1st choice would be Scott McCloughan. Not gonna happen, that would be too traumatic.
LULZ Im not. Thats why I said in my eyes, but nobody is or can be without being a fly on the wall. I dont understand why any coach would say "I dont need the younger, more athletic db that ranked very high last year amongst dbs over Jonathon 'gets beat a lot' Joseph". I cant fathom that. It came down to contract and ricky offered, it wasnt enough. Maybe at that point, he goes back to the coaches and says "AJ is demanding too much" and the coaches reply that they can manage without and can with only KJ, JJ and KJack but that solely fall on ricky not getting it done. #franchisetag Its not that I dont give him any credit, but its very little. Not enough for me to defend him nor should anybody for that matter. And if you want to give him credit for Arian, Im fine with that, but you have to give him the blame for Ahman Green too. Yikes. I personally give blame and credit to Kubes for those two. That god awful contract Green got though, that sits right in rickys lap.
Only the bad picks. Rick makes all the good ones. Coaches get fired so Rick can blame them and keep those checks incoming. But then Kubiak and Wade went out and won that Super Bowl-- kinda destroyed that narrative.
That was Wades pick in fact slick Rick wanted Aldon Smith but fate would shine on the team when he was picked just before the Texans.
Rick wanted Patrick Peterson and had a trade to move up to #6, but Peterson went off at #5. Then the discussion went to still doing the trade for Aldon Smith or going offense, then Wade and Bobby Grier pounded the table for staying put and targeting Watt.
Well, Deshaun Watson was Rick's pick. O'Brien wanted Mahomes. Rick LOVES Clemson players. There are 6 on the roster currently.
Actually he wanted Patrick Peterson. JJ Watt was second (or maybe third) on his list. It wasn't like he didn't know who he was. Plus Rick Smith is responsible for the picks. Even if it means knowing when to listen to the coaches advise.
You actually said they were definitely Ward's picks. Definitely. I can tell you why a coach would say they didn't want Bouye. AJ was trash but for one season. He was an UDFA agent. Prior to last season, he did not play well when he made it into games. He was prone to penalties a lot. The coaches could have said "save that money for Hopkins, Clowney, and a QB." It's very conceivable that the coaches though AJ would revert to being trash. Or that Rick Smith did. I want to blame Rick for not drafting more CBs and OL. But I actually liked his high picks. It is really weird that you choose not to give him credit for the UDFAs. It is documented how he talks to players who are slated to go at the end of the draft and starts talking with them about free agency. Honestly, Arian makes up for Green.
Didn't Foster sit on the side lines next to Kubes or on the practice squad for a year Really only got some burn because someone got hurt? Kubes basically had him the whole time and stumbled upon him Rocket River
I did. I also said in my eyes, i.e. in my opinion. I also said nobody knows for sure. I dont. You dont. We are not flies on the wall. The same way you think ricky deserves credit, I dont. You have your reasons, I have mine. I think the pulse of the fanbase would probably be more than happy to rid ourselves of ricky smits.
I believe it was Ryan Moats, but I dont know what side youre taking? Im reading it as you being pro-rick. So..... He also coached him harder than anybody else as well. There was a time where Kubes yelled at him louder in front of everyone to make sure he had a good hold on the ball. They always say 'dont worry about being coached hard, cause that when they care if you mess up. Its when you dont get coached at all, is when they dont care'. I dont see your point. Maybe the extra time on the PS was for his own good to learn game speed. Maybe, he needed more time to learn the playbook. Who knows? All I know is when Arian finally started, he was hyped up by all the coaches and the inner circle of RBs around the league knew it too.
I honestly don't have a side. . . I have been all over the map as PRO RICK . . ANTI RICK . . . now I'm like. . MMMMKay My thing is the narrative that . . . IF IT IS GOOD . .RICK HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH IT IF IT IS BAD . . . .IT IS ALL RICK I don't think many things on this team is ALL anyone Rocket River
The difference is I am giving all the credit and all the blame. I am not cherry picking. His department is responsible for personnel moves. It doesn't matter what Wade or Kubiak said, Rick still could have ignored them and went with someone else. I will only be happy if they get rid of him and his replacement is better. By any metric or pundit, he is average or slightly above average. Contrary to the fan base, you CAN do worse than Smith as your GM. About half the teams currently are. I would love if they do better than him but it is not a lock.
